[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In the second half, after adjustments in the midfield, Manchester City's situation in the first half, where they were always stuck in positional warfare, seemed to have improved.

Guardiola deliberately arranged B's position forward to increase Batistuta's time with the ball in the midfield to control the team's error rate, while also disrupting Hoffenheim's point-to-point intensive defensive tactics.

In the 46th minute, Lucas assisted and passed the defender with a long stride without any technical content, then knocked the ball in front of the goal. Aguero shot with his right foot from the left side of the small penalty area, but unfortunately he was disturbed by the defender, and the ball hit the left post and went out of the bottom line.

Having the upper hand but not being able to score points is their old problem.

Even after an unparalleled successful last season, Guardiola's style of play is still questioned, not only in the league but also in the Champions League. The team's high ball possession rate did not translate into goals as expected (theoretically), and many times the game was ended by relying on Batistuta's strong personal ability.

Batistuta's presence does cover up some of the flaws, but not all. It is also an old problem that a team that focuses on ball possession is suppressed by a team that focuses on quick counterattacks. So far, no one has found a good way to effectively solve it.

Guardiola can only find the answer through repeated experiments.

Soon, the game took a turn for the better.

In the 58th minute, Neymar was brought down while dribbling the ball on the left. The referee showed the first yellow card of the game and awarded Manchester City a free kick in the frontcourt.

At a distance of about 26 yards, the angle was not ideal.

"Do you want to come, Batistuta?" Neymar asked, covering his mouth before the penalty spot.

"No, I don't feel it." Batty hesitated and rejected the suggestion, "You can try to shoot directly, kick hard."

Neymar agreed.

The two of them stepped back a few steps in tacit understanding, the referee blew the whistle, Batistuta took the lead, and Neymar shot the moment he passed the ball.

【Let's see, Neymar took the free kick, Batistuta made a feint, and Neymar shot directly! Oh, unfortunately, the angle was a bit too low, and he couldn't get past the high-altitude wall of the Germans... The clearance was not kicked far, and there was chaos in the arc of Hoffenheim's penalty area. 】

"Over there, over there!"
"Hey! Watch the ball!"
"Watch out for fouls!"

In the melee, shouts of various languages ​​were flying everywhere. The ball fell at Batistuta's feet. After being pushed by countless hands in the gap, the goddess of luck finally favored him.

Batistuta shot without even thinking.

[Someone shot! This ball - oh! It went in!] Because the scene was too chaotic, the commentator couldn't see who scored the goal in the first normal playback. [Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay. This ball - haha! It was an own goal! Batistuta's shot was not even in the goal range, but it hit the defender's calf and deflected into the net!]

Yes, it was a lucky shot.

Batistuta's shot, which relied on muscle memory, went straight towards the broadcast camera on the sidelines. Fortunately, a Hoffenheim player was standing sideways facing the goal, less than 3 meters away from the goal line. Before he could react, the ball hit the calf of his right leg and bounced into the net.

But no matter what, it's a goal!

2-1!

In the 60th minute of the second half, Manchester City took the lead thanks to an own goal by Batistuta.

"What a lucky goal! That goal should be counted on you!" Lucas excitedly rushed to Batistuta and gave him a suffocating hug, "Cheer up Batistuta! Our little king! You are leading us to victory!"

"Yes!" Aguero laughed and rushed over, ruffling Batistuta's hair with his hands. "Tradition, tradition! Quick! For more goals! Pick him up!"

"okay--"

"No!" Lucas opened his hands towards Batty, "Hurry! There's no time!"

Batistuta rolled his eyes and resigned himself to his fate by jumping onto Lucas and waving his fist in celebration at everyone: "For Manchester City! We are invincible! Come on! Keep going!"

It was not until Hoffenheim kicked off from the center circle that Neymar, who provided half an assist for the goal, was finally able to pull Batistuta's hand. Unfortunately, the own goal could not be counted on any of them, so there was no reason to dance in celebration.

"Try to score a goal, Ney." Batistuta used his height advantage to rub Neymar's curly hair. "There are still more than 30 minutes left, you still have a chance to ask me to dance!"

Humph.

"I will!" Neymar slapped Batistuta's butt hard and told him to go back to his position.

Looking at the light-colored head, he curled his lips. The little bastard became more and more of a bastard after growing taller, and wanted to suppress him everywhere.

No, we still have to rely on scoring goals to get back on track!
……

After overtaking the score, Manchester City was no longer impatient and consciously slowed down the game.

But that doesn't mean the attack stops.

In the 71st minute, Manchester City had a great opportunity to expand the score.

Neymar broke through the wing and made a cross. Aguero's header in the penalty area was punched out by the goalkeeper. Batistuta got the ball outside the penalty area and went straight in. The goalkeeper chose to attack. Batistuta fell to the ground after contact with him and the referee awarded a penalty.

This caused dissatisfaction among Hoffenheim players. They were emotional and surrounded the referee to ask for an explanation. In comparison, Manchester City was much more relaxed. Neymar stepped forward and pulled Batistuta up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Good, very good, it couldn't be better." Batty said with his hands covering his mouth after adjusting his shorts, his tone full of complacency, "That Bowman is really not smart enough, I just hooked him and he fell for it."

"Yes, yes, you are the smartest." Neymar said, "Do you want to take the penalty yourself, you smart little liar."

Batty raised his lips: "Of course - no."

In Neymar's surprised eyes, he patted the ball twice and then threw it into Neymar's arms.

"Here you go." Batty tilted his head to indicate the direction of the goal. "Let me make it clear first, I don't like that stupid clown dance in Fortnite. You'd better change it."

Neymar was stunned for almost two seconds.

"Okay." He smiled, kissed the ball and walked to the penalty spot, "I'll dance you my original song."

[The ball went in! Neymar scored the penalty kick, Manchester City 3-1 Hoffenheim! This was a chance Batistuta won for the team, but he didn't take the credit. It seems that the rumors on the Internet about the chaotic and extremely discordant relationship within Manchester City can stop for a while. ] Although they usually don't dance to celebrate penalty kicks, it's different today. They need this.

After scoring the goal, Neymar and Batistuta came to the sidelines and performed a telephone dance in front of the camera. Making a phone call gesture with your hand next to your ear means friendship in Brazil. Many people say that this dance was created by Ronaldinho, but Batistuta thinks that is nonsense.

……

However, the hot offensive end could not cover up the problems on the defensive end. After David Silva was replaced by Gundogan in the 76th minute, the defects in the backcourt became more obvious.

With less than 10 minutes left, Manchester City faced another small crisis. Led by the young coach, Hoffenheim's players pushed the offense-defense transition to the extreme, which at one point made Manchester City a little breathless, and there was even a tendency for them to return to the sleepwalking state at the beginning of the game.

In the 82nd minute, Laporte received a pass from Neymar and was double-teamed by several defensive players while dribbling the ball at the sideline. He did not choose to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper, nor did he take the simplest and crudest way to clear the ball with a long kick, or even kick the ball out of the sideline to the opponent's out-of-bounds ball, but inexplicably dribbled the ball towards his own goal.

"Hey! Don't play with fire!" Guardiola couldn't sit still anymore, he came to the sidelines and gave orders loudly.

If they don't seize such a good opportunity, they can't say that they are a team capable of playing in the Champions League. Ten seconds later, the ball was intercepted by Hoffenheim's striker and he completed a sharp counterattack. Fortunately, his ability to seize opportunities was slightly poor, and he kicked the ball into the stands facing the empty goal.

With 2 minutes left in the regular game, Fernandinho's unnecessary lateral dribbling in front of his own penalty area was intercepted and the Hoffenheim striker completed a shot in the penalty area. Fortunately, the shot went wide of the goal frame, otherwise Fernandinho might have become Manchester City's sinner and received the lowest score of the game.

"Oh my God!" Guardiola took a deep breath and waved his hand complainingly, "Don't always let down at the end, focus on the guys! 3 points! We want 3 points!"

But the fact proves that the chain that is supposed to fall will always fall.

In the last stage of injury time, B Silva's right midfielder and Kyle Walker made a mistake in cooperation and almost lost the ball and launched a counterattack. Fortunately, Batistuta blocked it in time and stopped Hoffenheim's counterattack with a tactical foul.

The referee showed a yellow card to Batistuta and Hoffenheim won a free kick in the midfield.

With little time left, Hoffenheim took a free kick, which was headed by Stones at the first point, but in the end Manchester City resolved the crisis without any danger.

[beep——]
At the end of the game, Manchester City struggled to get 3 points away from home, and their winning streak in the Champions League was extended to 11 games. They have not lost a game this season.

Although the game was over, Kyle Walker was scared out of his wits.

It was entirely his fault for the ball just now. He was distracted and didn't notice the obvious gap in front of him. How stupid. If the ball was lost because of his mistake, Walker would want to eat himself.

"Do you need to get a pair of glasses, Kyle?" Batty ran over and pushed Walker's head gently. "Pep has shouted this many times on the sidelines, but you just won't listen. If you do this again next time, I'll kick your ass on the court. Seriously."

Watching Batty waving his hand and walking towards the mixed interview area, Walker was completely stunned, just like B Silva in the first half.

"Who was that guy who was complaining gently just now!" The England full-back widened his eyes, "It must not be Batty, right! Right John!"

The corners of Stones' mouth twitched, and he quickly pushed his friend back to the locker room.

That's fine too.

……

After the game, Batty obediently accepted media interviews.

[What do you think of the team's performance today? ]

Batty: "Our performance today was not very good, but fortunately we won the game. A game can reveal a lot of things. We still have a lot of room for improvement."

[Some people say that you played like an amateur team in the first half. What do you think? ]

Batistuta: "It's complicated to win in Germany. These are three valuable points. Hoffenheim is very strong, their defense is very organized and their players are very strong. It's not easy to find a way to beat them. Fortunately, we finally seized the right moment to win the game."

[Would it be easier if Kevin De Bruyne was on the field? ]

Batistuta: "It's hard to say. Kevin's absence has an impact on us, but it's not difficult to overcome. There are still many good players in the team. Pep is also working hard to help us, which is why we always win."

[You didn't score a goal today, and you are far behind Ronaldo in the Champions League scorer list]

Batty (shrugs): "It doesn't matter, we won."

reporter:……

Is this still the same Batty who sprayed venom everywhere?
……

After leaving the mixed interview area, Batistuta turned around and saw Guardiola standing at the door of the locker room waiting for him with a kind smile, as if he had watched his entire interview.

"Pep? What's up?"

"Nothing." Guardiola gave Batistuta a big hug and ruffled his sweaty hair. "I just want to say - well done, Batistuta."

Are you referring to the competition or the interview?

Or both?
But in the end Batistuta did not ask this question. He chose to accept the praise from his head coach.

"Thank you." Batty smiled. "I will continue to work hard. This season's trophy is still ours, no matter which one it is."

Guardiola didn't say anything else. He patted Batistuta on the shoulder and went to the post-match press conference with the staff. Batistuta took a towel from the chair at the door to wipe his sweat. As soon as he entered the locker room, he ran into Neymar again.

"I just passed by and heard your interview, Batistuta." Neymar laughed. He snatched the towel from Batistuta's hand and made a circle around his arm. "At least in this aspect, you have made great progress. I believe that the captain's armband of the Brazilian team will be handed over to you soon!"

"Oh no, don't. We haven't enjoyed the joy of rotating captains yet." Batty sat down and changed his bandages while joking, "It's just some polite words. You can say them too. It's very simple."

On the bus back to the hotel, Neymar began to plan the celebration party after returning to Manchester. Batistuta rested his chin on his hand and watched the buildings passing by quickly outside the window, responding from time to time.

Being a good king is exhausting, he thought.

If only Kevin were here.

(End of this chapter)